KALAHEO — Ikaika Basketball under coach Clay Tang made a strong prescense in their defense of the Kaua‘i Youth Basketball Association (KYBA) Girls 14 Under tournament that opened Thursday night at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center.
Facing a restructured Team Swish under coach Dave Hamamura and Clarence Sales, Ikaika opened tentatively before capitalizing on their speed and quickness to overpower Team Swish, 41-13.
With only five of their eight players scoring, Ikaika rocketed to a 26-5 halftime lead led by Rayna Munos and Chloe Martin.
Kathleen Cadiente, who had the honor of the game-opening basket for Team Swish, was held to just four first-quarter points with Tristan Rosare adding the digit in the first half.
The romp slowed slightly in the second half, but Ikaikai continued to capitalize on Team Swish’s passing and ball handling abilities to finish up with a 15-8 second half.
Besides Martin and Munos, Ikaika got scores from Chelsy Okuma, Ashley Yamachika, and Paige Young, Young and Yamachika taking the brunt of the Swish defense headed up by Tiffany Ikeda-Simao who posted up the leftside.
Swish scoring was balanced by four-point efforts from Ikeda-Simao, Kelsie and Kathleen Cadiente.
The victory puts Ikaika in the “win” column along with the Westside Hornets who pulled off a 29-12 win over Gee’s Angels, and Waimea who came alive in the second quarter enroute to a 22-16 showing over Wailua.
Gee’s Angels were kept scoreless until the final 1:18 of the third frame when Mahea Grace broke the ice on an outside bomb followe by Gabby Matayoshi netting back-to-back buckets.
Treys from Krystle Henry and Matayoshi lit up the crowd in the final frame despite the loss.
Brandi Briones, Reesha Banasihan, and Charlyn Ortiz headlined the Westside Hornets, Briones tossing in seven markers with Banasihan and Ortiz each finishing with six.
Despite outgunning Waimea, 12-7 in the first half, Wailua could not hold on to their lead and dropped the second half, 15-4 to Waimea as the buzzer sounded on a 22-16 contest.
Led by a trey from Chelsie Villatora in the second quarter, Wailua got full-depth performance in the first half as Hanalei Gomes, Kaira Kupihea, Leina‘ala McCabe, and Lehua McCabe each chipped in buckets, but the second half fizzled as Britney Salvador and Kupihea were the only scorers for Wailua, Kupihea finishing with high scoring honors with her four points.
Waimea guard Natalie Mata led their effort with six points followed by Aiko Grande and Sera Pascual each adding four. Kori Sakamoto and Erin Connelly finished with three apiece, and a pair from Lorrine Lagoc-Agrade accounted in the victory.
Action continues today at the Kalaheo Neighborhood Center from 9 a.m. The championship game will tip off starting at 12 noon.
